How Sarah Fremont’s Scandinavian Roots Inspire Her Pattern-Filled Home (and Her Tips for Filling Your Home With Pattern, Too!)

Sarah Fremont isn’t afraid of pattern. Where others might opt for quiet and neutral, Sarah goes bold. In Sarah’s world, there is no place in her home that is not perfectly suited for wallpaper, whether it be an accent or wall-to-wall pattern. “I am drawn to the whimsical and cheerful and really making my home a cozy snuggery using patterns, colors (particularly reds and blues), and yummy textiles,” says Sarah—a tendency she credits to her Scandinavian heritage.

Today, Sarah and her family live in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico after recently selling their Texas home. “My husband traveled internationally a lot before the pandemic hit and, like everyone else, he shifted to working from home during the lockdown,” says Sarah. “It was during that time that I read to my children a picture book biography of Georgia O’Keefe and I became completely drawn to (obsessed with!) the New Mexican landscape. I just had to get there.”

While her fixer-upper home in New Mexico had long been abandoned, it “was once an architectural beauty with all of the traditional New Mexican elements: brick floors, wood ceilings, and stucco garden walls,” says Sarah. “We are in the process of lovingly restoring this home and I am looking to the homes and gardens of O’Keefe for all of my inspiration—with a Nordic flare!”

Much of that Nordic flare has come from pattern, particularly wallpaper. An avid gardener (she writes and photographs gardening articles for a girls’ magazine), Sarah often draws inspiration for inside her home from what’s just outside it. “I like my garden to have the same whimsy and cheerfulness as my home: vegetables mixed with flowers, delightful garden trellises painted red, sprawling vines, and fairy lights,” she says. “As a result, I am definitely drawn to wallpaper that has garden and nature elements.”

It was that desire to bring her passion for the garden indoors that led her to her most recent wallpaper installation. “I had really intended to do all the walls in a plaster finish, but then I saw Alpine Garden Multi in Ebony,” says Sarah. “The pattern and colorway resonated with my spirit. I was smitten with the delicate floral pattern that feels so peaceful and cheerful. The black background and gold highlights are beautiful, moody, and have such good energy.” And although it’s not quite the right time in the remodel process to install wallpaper, the addition of this pattern has changed the home’s energy. “The process has been going very slowly. It has been a bit discouraging for all of us,” she says. “Our children have been questioning our choices and missing their old home. But then I put up the Alpine Garden wallpaper in our kitchen and it would not be hyperbolic to say that tears were shed. It has given us new life and energy in this space. It has changed our mindset. Instead of waiting for the space to be finished, we can start cozying up our home now and live life in the current state, for however long that might be. ‘It finally feels like home, mama.’ And it does.”

The transformation the paper brought has been felt by everyone in the family, including Sarah’s ceramicist husband. Sarah recalls, “The other night he asked me to come outside with him and I thought he wanted me to look at the sunset, the mountain, or the city lights. No. He asked me to turn around and look into the window and see the wallpaper in the evening light. It looked so good! Honestly, this has been such a gift to us.”

Sarah’s love for wallpaper isn’t new, however. Her previous home, the one in Texas, was also a study in using pattern to create joyful spaces. “I had purchased rolls of Folklore in Red before we even owned our [Texas] home. I just had to have it!” Sarah says. “The whimsical pattern in red on a white background felt very Scandinavian/folk to me even though it is Otomi… even though it seemed like a bold choice, the pattern and color always settled into the background and just gave off cheerful energy. I love it so much and have never grown tired of it.”

In her last home, Sarah used Nethercote (Blue) in her bathroom, where she started with just a few walls, but then decided to go back and paper them all. “It is so beautiful… and it just feels good and cozy in the space,” Sarah says. “I layered it with vintage art to break up the pattern a bit and I am completely smitten with the whole thing.”

After many rooms filled with many patterns, Sarah has picked up more than a few tips and tricks for using wallpaper to create beautiful spaces that feel like home. Here are just a few of her favorites:

• “I start a folder in Pinterest for each room that I am considering wallpapering. Start collecting ideas so you can see a common theme for where you are heading. Be specific in your search field with words like: red, blue, small floral, dark floral, Scandinavian, bohemian, nature, folk, mural, etc.”
• “I prefer accent walls for hallways, entries, stairwells, and backs of shelving. These pass-through areas are perfect for the bold patterns you may be hesitant to use elsewhere.”
• “I like wall-to-wall wallpaper in bedrooms and bathrooms. I had initially done only two walls in a bathroom but went back and did the entire room and it felt much more finished and cheerful.”
• “Do not be afraid to put nail holes in your wallpaper to add art. Think of the wallpaper as the first layer. Art can be a great way to break up the pattern and add a lovely second layer to the walls.”
• “I’ve used wainscoting on the lower half of the wall and wallpaper on the top half. Less wallpaper is used and it makes for the coziest room.”
• “Do not be afraid! Wallpaper is not permanent, so do not think you have to find the most perfect wallpaper in the universe before you go for it. If you tire of it or change your mind down the road, it can be removed.”